We Negro writers, just by being black, have been on the blacklist all our lives. Censorship for us begins at the color line. – Langston Hughes
I am going to stop calling you a white man and I’m going to ask you to stop calling me a black man. – Morgan Freeman
I like a kind of dark, bronze-y brown smoky eye with maybe some mascara, some contouring and stuff, but I don’t like wearing black or pinks. I like it more tonal. – Jillian Rose Banks
Black people lived right by the railroad tracks, and the train would shake their houses at night. I would hear it as a boy, and I thought: I’m gonna make a song that sounds like that. – Little Richard
I had written a tune called ‘Shake, Rattle and Roll,’ but the white stations refused to play it – they thought it was low-class black music. We thought what we needed was a new name. But a white disc jockey named Alan Freed laid on it, and he thought up the name ‘rock n’ roll.’ – Jesse Stone
Seventy percent of the fish we eat is black market, fished in violation of international laws. Our ignorance makes us unwilling partners in crime. Rogue economics is turning the global market into our worst nightmare. – Loretta Napoleoni
Black people can be the most conservative, the most discriminating. Especially among ourselves. It wasn’t white people who said all black men have to wear baggy jeans. – Kanye West
To get even realer with you for a second, as a black actor, as a performer of color, I don’t know how many more roles like Aaron Burr are gonna come along for me. – Leslie Odom, Jr.
The Jewish background is not that far from the black groove. Blacks are downtrodden, Jews are downtrodden, therefore they have something in common in that affliction. Being downtrodden often makes one more empathetic and sympathetic. – Jerry Leiber
I wear a lot of black, but not in the goth way, I just really love black. I’ll never be in pink or purples. – Kimberly Caldwell
I started training in martial arts when I was 7 years old. I got my first black belt at 13. – Katheryn Winnick
Gravitational waves will bring us exquisitely accurate maps of black holes – maps of their space-time. Those maps will make it crystal clear whether or not what we’re dealing with are black holes as described by general relativity. – Kip Thorne
A lot of black guys always ask me, ‘Did Larry Bird really play that good?’ I said, ‘Larry Bird is so good it’s frightening.’ – Magic Johnson
People hear the soul, black influence in my voice. I grew up listening to CKLW and all the black stations like WLBS. – Madonna Ciccone
Won’t it be wonderful when black history and native American history and Jewish history and all of U.S. history is taught from one book. Just U.S. history. – Maya Angelou
Voting is a Constitutional right. Absent any evidence of fraud, all Americans have a protected right to vote, be they rich or poor, black, Hispanic or white, people who live in a big city or in remote rural areas. – Juan Williams
People are much more complicated in real life, but my characters are as subtle and nuanced as I can make them. But if you say my characters are too black and white, you’ve missed the point. Villains are meant to be black-hearted in popular novels. If you say I have a grey-hearted villain, then I’ve failed. – Ken Follett
I have a black pair of suede Jimmy Choos. I’ve only worn them once to a Sony event. The heels have these arrow plates in a pattern. There’s gold, black and white and they’re amazing! – Jessica Mauboy
‘Don’t Look Back’ is my first YA contemporary mystery/thriller. It’s been described as ‘Black Swan’ meets ‘Pretty Little Liars’. – Jennifer Armentrout
Of the female black authors, I really like Morrison’s early books a lot. But she’s really become so much a clone of Faulkner. He did it better. – Leslie Fiedler
I’m a Southerner – I never take satisfaction in touching a nerve. I guess if I’m forced to find a good side, I’m glad that people are talking about an issue that hasn’t really been discussed all that much. I’m glad that people are talking about it from the black perspective and the white perspective. – Kathryn Stockett
Liberals believe they own the franchise on minorities and can’t stand any Hispanic or black who breaks rank. – Linda Chavez
Baby, black promoters oppressed me before white promoters ever got hold of me. Don’t talk skin to me. – Mahalia Jackson
Diversity needs to operate on every level. It’s great that the Oscars have highlighted it, but black actors getting nominated shouldn’t be the only result. There’s so much more that needs to be done. – Ruth Negga